Pneumatic tube carrier systems are a well-known means for the automated transport of materials between a multitude of locations, any of which may be the origination location or destination location of a transport carrier. A typical system includes a number of pneumatic tubes interconnected in a network to transport carriers between a number of user stations. Various blowers and transfer units provide the force and path control means, respectively, for moving the carriers through and from tube-to-tube within the system.
Directing traffic in a pneumatic tube carrier system is a system control center (SCC). An SCC may determine carrier paths, or routes, through a system, carrier location within a system, and carrier path change solutions in situations where gridlock conditions occur. In current systems, such determinations are largely based upon “predictions”, or inferences, as to where each carrier “should be” within a system given the times/locations of entry and intended transport paths of all carriers concurrently handled by the system.
In current practice, however, carriers can be delivered to locations other than their intended destinations for several reasons. For example, a system may misdirect a given carrier as a result of equipment error. Alternatively, a system may misdirect numerous carriers as a result of the presence of a “floater” carrier (e.g., an unidentified carrier) within a system. That is, the presence of even a single, unaccounted for carrier may severely undermine the accuracy of a number of prediction-based determinations made by an SCC, thereby adversely impacting the handling of numerous carriers.